Review: A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi

Rating:

Reviewed by Richard Wisniewski

Wishes. Hopes. Desires. They can either drive one to the pinnacle of success or the abyss of demise. Roshani Chokshi transformed the traditions and beliefs behind wishes, hopes and desires to what is bound to become a New York Times bestseller. A Crown of Wishes is the second installment in a series, and Chokshi truly flexed her writing capabilities from the very first page.

The story is broken out into chapters narrated by different characters. This provides for quite a unique vantage point later in the book. In all honesty, this was one of my favorite aspects of the book and has become my preferred way to tell a story. The story itself follows the Princess of Bharata, Gauri, the narrator, who is a prisoner of war in a neighboring kingdom. Faced with the mind of wishes and hopes, they are often crushed with the thoughts of death and exile. With exile in her future, she is met by a puppet king known as Vikram. The story truly begins to develop when Vikram is introduced to the idea of the Tournament of Wishes. This is a competition held in what is called ‘The Otherworld’, where the winner of the tournament also wins a wish.

For much of the story, Vikram and Gauri spend a lot of time together figuring out and getting to know each other. Since they start off as enemies, Gauri often contemplates the easiest ways to kill Vikram. Vikram, with his clever and sly personality, hence the name The Fox Prince, often finds his way around her vicious attempts. Upon reaching the tournament, their mindsets and friendship begin to build and blossom in a new route. The trials test their hope, desires and their friendship to the core. With shocking and entertaining moments, and quite frequent comedic timing by the character of Vikram, this book is easily one of the leads in the genre.

For anyone who is a fan of the major authors in the fantasy world, this series is a must read. Chokshi’s descriptions and her way with the words are inspirational. Vikram’s character development and Chokshi’s descriptions of him and his personality are my favorite parts of the book. The element that he provides lightens the mood and provides for a unique perspective as to what is happening. I was not totally sold on the cheeky romance but do think other readers may enjoy it.

As an avid fiction reader in this specific genre, I am extremely particular as to what I read because many stories are too cliché or are often flat. A Crown of Wishes proudly compliments Chokshi’s first NYT best selling book, The Star Touched Queen. Roshani Chokshi is definitely an author to watch.

With a BA in History, Economics and Spanish, Richard is an avid writer and a passionate reader. With a love for all genres of books, Richard appreciates the art of writing and the love an author puts into a project. Richard began to expand his craft upon partnering with numerous companies across the globe. Currently, Richard is preparing to launch a co-creation project all about living your best life and in the process of writing a series of books.

Review copy was provided free of any obligation by St. Martin’s Griffin. No monetary or any other form of compensation was received.

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4 Comments

I continue to read the reviews of fantasy novels and I keep hoping that one will grab me enough that I will simply have to read it. I haven’t quite figured out why I am opposed to reading fantasy. On the other hand, time is short. This does sound like it is written nicely. That’s a big plus! Thank you for the review.

I’ve been meaning to start this series and I think I’m going to go the audiobook route on this one. Her writing is just beautiful and the plot sounds pretty unique in the YA genre.I would buy this series just based on the covers alone. They are amazing!